Find out what’s going on in your world with Taptu

Step 1 of 7: Intro

Owning an iOS device does horrible things to your attention span. The temptation to flit in and out of Twitter, news apps, Facebook, blogs, email, and then back to Twitter again is irresistible. Taptu indulges this urge for news and novelty, allowing you to combine news feeds and social networks into one smooth interface.

In this it’s broadly similar to the free Flipboard app, but here the similarities end. Flipboard is minimal and slightly aloof, displaying just a couple of stories on each page and encouraging leisurely browsing. Taptu, on the other hand, is buzzy and vibrant, allowing you to see dozens of news sources in varying degrees of detail at a glance.

There’s a huge range of feeds to choose from, with everything from Reuters to gardening blogs, and it’s easy to tailor feeds so they exactly meet your interests. Design purists might balk at the jarring combination of fonts, but for news junkies and the easily distracted, Taptu is just the ticket.

Vital Info

Device: iPhone/iPad/iPod touchDifficulty: BeginnerTime required: Depends on how long you want to spend using it

What you need

iOS 4.0 or laterTaptu app (free)

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Owning an iOS device does horrible things to your attention span. The temptation to flit in and out of Twitter, news apps, Facebook, blogs, email, and then back to Twitter again is irresistible. Taptu indulges this urge for news and novelty, allowing you to combine news feeds and social networks into one smooth interface.

In this it’s broadly similar to the free Flipboard app, but here the similarities end. Flipboard is minimal and slightly aloof, displaying just a couple of stories on each page and encouraging leisurely browsing. Taptu, on the other hand, is buzzy and vibrant, allowing you to see dozens of news sources in varying degrees of detail at a glance.

There’s a huge range of feeds to choose from, with everything from Reuters to gardening blogs, and it’s easy to tailor feeds so they exactly meet your interests. Design purists might balk at the jarring combination of fonts, but for news junkies and the easily distracted, Taptu is just the ticket.

Vital Info

Device: iPhone/iPad/iPod touchDifficulty: BeginnerTime required: Depends on how long you want to spend using it

What you need

iOS 4.0 or laterTaptu app (free)

Step 2 of 7: Step 1: On the grapevine

All sorts of news outlets, magazines and blogs have feeds on Taptu, and you can add your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Reader accounts. The app also offers curated feeds, which combine stories from all sorts of outlets on general topics such as football, or on major news stories like the economic crisis.

Step 3 of 7: Step 2: Spinning the headlines

Tap DJ in the top-left corner of the main screen to enter the StreamStudio, where you can delete feeds you don’t want and rearrange the ones you do. You can even customise some feeds that draw news from many sources – such as News on Twitter – by tapping the bar that appears.

Step 4 of 7: Step 3: Mix it up

Another way of customising your news feeds is by combining several of them: drag one feed onto another, then add a name and pick a colour for its bar. You can edit out any news outlets you don’t want in Sources, or tap the eye icon in the top-right corner to see how your feed will look in action.

Step 5 of 7: Step 4: The genuine article

Tap on a story to read it in full or to save it to Instapaper. When you’re finished, you can share it with your social network, tap the ribbon in the top right to save it, swipe to read the next story, or tap the cross to return to your feeds. The Related tab shows you how a story was reported by others.

Step 6 of 7: Step 5: See more

You can choose between six sizes for each feed, depending on whether you’d prefer to just see thumbnails, which is useful for Facebook and Twitter, or a full headline and opening sentences. For a more comprehensive view of what’s going on in the world, pull the grey handle in the bottom bar of each feed.

Step 7 of 7: Step 6: Behind the scenes

Tap the spanner icon at the corner of the main screen and then the cog icon that appears to reach the Settings page. Here, you can log in or out of your social media accounts in Log Out, choose between customised feeds aimed at US or GB audiences in the Locale tab, and adjust the text size of your stories.